took our 2013 AWD on a trip from NJ to NC and VA. About 1000 miles all together in 4 days.

overall, got about 27.5. Best leg (philly to NC) was 28.5 per the TC. And that included a lot of 770-75 on 95, then 75-80 for a long stretch below Richmond (middle of nowhere, and a SL of 70. I liked it!)

some running around mixed in, but easily able to beat the EPA on straight highway runs, and speed does not seem to matter all that much (must be the cylinder deactivation kicking in).

So as a practical matter does anyone notice any real drop off in performance when using regular gas? It was my understanding that you can use regular and unless you are a real automotive officionado you really can't tell much of a difference when using regular vs premium.

I did a 600+mile trip this weekend. Ran premium on the way up, and midgrade (with a couple of gallons of regular mixed in to top it up) on the way back. I noticed no performance difference. Was still a hotrod, tons of power, and did not hear any knocking. So if it dialed the power back, I did not miss it. Plus, I probably did not go over 3K RPM, so most likely, the area that you would notice I never got near!

in terms of MPG, on the trip back (Boston to Philly), a little local then mostly highway, with a few stops for traffic jams, the TC (which is usually high but no more than 1/2 gallon in MPG) after 320 miles was 30.2. And that was running normal speeds (65-75 mostly). so if the lower octane hurt MPG, I did not see it (that was a record for that long a run of mixed driving).

Haven't posted in a while...DW, who is known for her 'straight from the gas to the brake and back' style of driving, took a 400-mile trip in the sweltering central Texas heat...resulting in a TC reading of 29+ mpg. This includes the above-mentioned 'spirited' driving style and about 10% in-town driving, fairly loaded with either people or antique-store items.

AFAIK, we've only used 87 octane for the past few months, showing around 20-21 avg mileage and the 29ish for the trip. We did have the odd TC reading that was stuck on 16.3 for a week or so, so I wouldn't bet the farm on its accuracy. Closing in on 11k miles and the second service visit.